Charles David Carter (August 16, 1868 – April 9, 1929) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from Oklahoma's 4th and 3rd congressional districts from 1907 to 1927. He was appointed by President William McKinley as Mining Trustee for Indian Territory, which he served as from 1900 to 1904.

Charles Carter
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Oklahoma
In office
November 16, 1907 – March 3, 1927
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byWilburn Cartwright
Constituency4th district (1907–1915)
3rd district (1915–1927)
Personal details
Born
Charles David Carter

(1868-08-16)August 16, 1868
Boggy Depot, Indian Territory, U.S. (now Oklahoma)
DiedApril 9, 1929(1929-04-09) (aged 60)
Ardmore, Oklahoma, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Ada Wilson
Cecile Whittington Jones
Children4
Signature

Carter was active in the Chickasaw Nation and served as its auditor, on the Chickasaw Council, and as superintendent of Chickasaw Schools.

Early life edit

Charles David Carter was born near Boggy Depot, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), Carter moved with his father to Mill Creek, a stage stand on the western frontier of the Chickasaw Nation, in April 1876. Carter was of Chickasaw and Cherokee descent.[1] He attended the Indian day schools and Chickasaw Manual Training Academy at Tishomingo.

Carter was employed on a ranch from 1887 to 1889 and in a mercantile establishment in Ardmore, Oklahoma, from 1889 to 1892. He married Ada Gertrude Wilson on December 29, 1891 and they had four children, Stella LeFlore, Italy Cecil, Julia Josephine, and Benjamin Wisnor Carter, Jr. After Ada's death on January 30, 1901, he married Cecile Whittington Jones on January 8, 1911.[2]

Public service edit

Carter served as auditor of public accounts of the Chickasaw Nation from 1892 to 1894, a member of the Chickasaw Council in 1895, then superintendent of schools of the Chickasaw Nation in 1897. He was appointed mining trustee of Indian Territory by President William McKinley in November 1900 and served four years.[3]

Carter was Secretary of the first Democratic executive committee of the proposed State of Oklahoma from June to December 1906. Upon the admission of Oklahoma as a State into the Union, he was elected as a Democrat to the Sixtieth and to the nine succeeding Congresses, serving from November 16, 1907, to March 4, 1927.[4]

Carter served as chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs (Sixty-fifth Congress). He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1926. He was appointed to the State highway commission, serving 1927-1929.

Death edit

Carter died in Ardmore, Carter County, Oklahoma, on April 9, 1929. He is interred at Rose Hill Cemetery in Ardmore.[5]

Electoral history edit

1907 Oklahoma's 4th congressional district election{[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles D. Carter 29,782 62.57
Republican Loren G. Disney 15,752 33.09
Socialist J. T. Cumbie 2,065 4.34
Total votes 47,599 100.00
Democratic win (new seat)
1908 Oklahoma's 4th congressional district election[7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles D. Carter (incumbent) 22,047 50.63
Republican Benjamin F. Hackett 15,727 36.12
Socialist M. C. Carter 5,769 13.25
Total votes 43,543 100.00
Democratic hold
1910 Democratic primary results [8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles D. Carter (incumbent) 18,732 80.20%
Democratic Ben Bouldin 4,625 19.80%
Total votes 23,357 100.0
1910 Oklahoma's 4th congressional district election[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles D. Carter (incumbent) 21,959 55.63%
Republican Charles M. Campbell 11,979 30.35%
Socialist J. N. Gilmore 5,534 14.02%
Total votes 39,472 100.00
Democratic hold
1912 Democratic primary results[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles D. Carter 18,928 72.20%
Democratic R. H. Stanley 5,716 21.80%
Democratic J. J. Parsons 1,571 5.99%
Total votes 26,215 100.0
1912 Oklahoma's 4th congressional district election[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles D. Carter (incumbent) 23,987 51.33%
Republican E. N. Wright 11,421 24.44%
Socialist Fred W. Holt 11,321 24.23%
Total votes 46,729 100.00
Democratic hold
1914 Oklahoma's 4th congressional district election[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles D. Carter (incumbent) 17,274 50.02%
Socialist R. L. Norman 10,588 30.66%
Republican C. H. Elting 6,479 18.76%
Progressive Dudley B. Buell 191 0.55%
Total votes 34,532 100.0
1916 Democratic primary results [13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles D. Carter (incumbent) 15,441 77.91%
Democratic R. L. Kidd 4,378 22.09%
Total votes 19,818 100.0
1916 Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district election[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles D. Carter (incumbent) 21,182 55.12%
Republican Gratton C. McVay 10,386 27.03%
Socialist H. M. Shelton 6,862 17.86%
Total votes 38,430 100.00
Democratic hold
1918 Democratic primary results [15]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles D. Carter (incumbent) 12,529 68.97%
Democratic Tom W. Neal 5,637 31.03%
Total votes 18,166 100.0
1918 Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district election[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles D. Carter (incumbent) 15,635 66.79%
Republican H. J. Fowler 6,982 27.03%
Socialist H. M. Shelton 6,862 17.86%
Total votes 29,479 100.00
Democratic hold
1920 Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district election[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles D. Carter (incumbent) 33,344 53.99%
Republican James L. Shinaberger 24,188 39.17%
Socialist Robert L. Allen 4,227 6.84%
Total votes 61,759 100.00
Democratic hold
1922 Democratic primary results[18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles D. Carter (incumbent) 17,964 40.59%
Democratic J. B. Laughlin 15,312 34.60%
Democratic Wilburn Cartwright 10,983 24.82%
Total votes 44,259 100.0
1922 Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district election[19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles D. Carter (incumbent) 44,964 74.18%
Republican Philas S. Jones 15,022 24.78%
Socialist Manley L. Misenheimer 632 1.04%
Total votes 60,618 100.00
Democratic hold
1924 Democratic primary results[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles D. Carter (incumbent) 24,351 44.22%
Democratic Wilburn Cartwright 17,205 (31.24%
Democratic Joe D. Summit 13,516 24.54%
Total votes 55,072 100.0
1924 Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district election[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Charles D. Carter (incumbent) 38,674 68.14%
Republican Don Welch 15,425 27.18%
Farmer–Labor R. L. Thurmond 2,659 4.69%
Total votes 56,759 100.00
Democratic hold
1926 Democratic primary results[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Wilburn Cartwright 16,670 41.22%
Democratic Charles D. Carter (incumbent) 15,605 38.59%
Democratic Jess Harper 8,168 20.20%
Total votes 40,443 100.0

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Lee, M. J. "7 pols with Native American heritage." Politico. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  2. ^ "Charles D. Carter". Lawrence Stanley Family Genealogy. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  3. ^ "Charles D. Carter". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  4. ^ "Charles D. Carter". Govtrack US Congress. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  5. ^ "Charles D. Carter". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  6. ^ "[1969] Directory of Oklahoma Part 1 (Pages 1-240) 138". digitalprairie.ok.gov. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  7. ^ https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/almanacs/id/36405/rec/1
  8. ^ https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/almanacs/id/36407/rec/1
  9. ^ https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/almanacs/id/36409/rec/1
  10. ^ https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/almanacs/id/36411/rec/1
  11. ^ https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/almanacs/id/36412/rec/1
  12. ^ https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/almanacs/id/36418/rec/1
  13. ^ https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/almanacs/id/36419/rec/1
  14. ^ https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/almanacs/id/36422/rec/1
  15. ^ https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/almanacs/id/36423/rec/1
  16. ^ https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/almanacs/id/36422/rec/1
  17. ^ https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/almanacs/id/36429/rec/1
  18. ^ https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/almanacs/id/36411/rec/1
  19. ^ https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/almanacs/id/36435/rec/1
  20. ^ https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/almanacs/id/36435/rec/1
  21. ^ https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/almanacs/id/36438/rec/1
  22. ^ https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/almanacs/id/36441/rec/1

External links edit

U.S. House of Representatives
New constituency Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Oklahoma's 4th congressional district

1907–1915
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district

1915–1927
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the House Indian Affairs Committee
1917–1919
Succeeded by